Business and technology leaders have long had a love/hate relationship with telecommunications service providers, which enable their core business operations but come at a substantial cost. Even after decades as telecom end users, firms still struggle to understand usage, market benchmarks, and billing details. The transfer of data to and from the telecom provider’s networks requires many last-mile options and the ability to carefully monitor performance problems, usage, and charges. Navigating each provider’s unique connectivity offerings and service availability footprints further complicates the picture. This report helps technology leaders get telecom costs right by following five essential steps.